#personally i don't ship the sea three but hey

[jintaka-hane]

Raisins

Masterlist

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Notes: Benn Beckman x brat f!reader. This is a stupid idea - gift to my lovely @fanaticsnail, to give her some comfort and encouragement regarding the last glimpse into her life. Beckman isn't very good in the kitchen, but he does is best 💕 🚬 Word count: 800 Summary: When you're hungry, you're a grump. And it's even worse when they bring you things you don't like.

Ever since Lucky Roux had dislocated his shoulder, nobody cooked aboard the Red Force, and the red-haired pirates made do with whatever they could scrounge up from the galley to survive.

You found yourself in there, hungry and grumpy, scouring for a snack. Provisions were running low, and a group led by the ship's second-in-command had just returned from resupplying ashore.

As you rummaged through the pantry for something to munch on, Benn Beckman strode into the galley, a cigarette clamped between his lips as usual.

"Feelin’ a bit hungry, are we?" His muscular scarred arms flexed as he lifted the weighty shopping bags onto the table. Each one seemed to weigh a ton, but it didn't appear to trouble him.

"Yeah, and there's nothing here…"

“Don't worry, darlin', I've bought yer favorite cereal for breakfast."

Eagerly, you pounced on the shopping bags, seeking the prized cereal box. Your hands landed on a square cardboard container, which you swiftly pulled out. As you gazed at it, disappointment clouded your face... Cereal with raisins, the product name read.

You loathed raisins with every fiber of your being.

With a frustrated expression, you glanced at Beckman, unable to hide your annoyance.

"Seriously?! With raisins?!”

He snatched the box from your grasp and examined it.

"Guess I mistook these brown things for chocolate,” he said shrugging his shoulders and handing you the box again.

“I hate raisins, Beck!!" you shouted, throwing the cereal container onto the table.

“Come on, doll, I’m sure it doesn’t taste that bad," he was calm, his cigarette still in his lips and a wisp of smoke curling from it.

You huffed in response, aware that your reaction wasn't the greatest. But frankly, you detested raisins and the idea of having to eat that crap for the rest of the week infuriated you beyond measure. You couldn't hide it.

As he observed your spoiled reaction his own irritation threatened to mirror yours.

“Easy now, don’t be like that,” he tried to stay composed, “next time I’ll buy others”.

You didn't want to listen. You stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door shut without even saying goodbye.

"Spoiled girl…", he muttered angrily, shaking his head, “ungrateful brat…”.

You spent the rest of the day on deck, attending to some of your duties. Beckman was nowhere to be found, and you still felt yourself quite angry enough to seek him out and talk to him. Your reaction was somewhat irrational, but you couldn't avoid it.

Nonetheless, you felt a hint of sadness and guilt within you. After all, the first mate was your favorite person on the ship, and you never used to argue.

“Hey, do you know where Beck is?" asked one man.

"No clue," another replied.

"Last time I saw him, he was busy in the galley," you heard someone else say.

You remained occupied, tending to your tasks throughout the day. As your hunger intensified while working, you contemplated pilfering something from the pantry.

You made your way to the galley, a familiar scent of tobacco wafting through the crack of the partially closed door. You reached for the knob to push it, but halted abruptly upon hearing the voice of the vice captain muttering grumpily from inside.

“... don't know why the fuckin’ hell I bother ...”.

Your hand released the doorknob, and you decided not to enter; you weren't going to confront an angry superior. You turned on your heel and made your way back to your duties, resigned.

Three hours later, your stomach growled like a sea monster from the Grand Line.

"Screw it, I'm going to eat that crappy cereal".

You headed to the galley again, finding nobody there. You opened the pantry, grabbed the cereal, a spoon, and a bowl, and sat at the table with a sigh. Pouring the cereal into the bowl, you took a closer look at it and to your surprise, there were no raisins. They had been removed and replaced by meticulously sliced chocolate bits.

You rose immediately and made your way onto the deck in search of the first mate, the spoon still in your hand.

“Beckman!!!”

You saw him standing at the prow, his expression grave as he concentrated on securing a line with a sailor's knot.

“I’m right’ere”, he answered crankily.

Glancing at his hands, you noticed that his fingers were speckled with tiny flecks of chocolate.

"Did you remove all the raisins from the cereal?!"

“... aye,” he mumbled without looking at you.

"By hand?"

“... aye,” his focus was still on the rope.

"And chopped bits of chocolate for me?"

“That I did,” he replied, still avoiding your gaze.

You rushed towards him, leaping into his arms, causing him to drop the rope, which fell to the ground as he caught you. Enveloping him with your arms, you started giving him little kisses all over his face.

“Forgive me, I am sorry, I shouldn't have shouted at you”.

“... it's a’right,” he responded, slightly embarrassed and trying to conceal a smile.

“... And… thank…” you said, unable to stop pecking his cheeks, “… you”.

“... anytime, darlin',” he hugged you tightly against him.

From the bowcastle, a group of men were watching you.

“Beck!!" One of them shouted, laughing, "she got you wrapped around her finger, huh?”

Without letting go of your embrace, Beckman shifted his gaze towards them.

“GET BACK TO FUCKIN' WORK!!”

--------------

Taglist: @i-am-vita @gingernut1314

[tyrantisterror]

At Sea Without a Map pt. 13

(hey, look at that, an almost perfect 3 way split! Thanks to @fragmentaryremains and @zndr315-blog for submitting several questions/discussion prompts as well! I'll say that earns 4 questions a piece)

You decide upon three discussion topics, and decide to begin with the one that seems least personal, in order to work up the courage to discuss the other two. "What were those birds?" you ask. (Monster questions remaining: 3 of 4)

"Um, birds, I guess?" Calibani says with a shrug. "I've never seen anything like them before, to be honest." (She doesn't have an answer, so you get a mulligan! Monster questions remaining: 4 of 4)

"Well, are there any land creatures you do know of?" (Monster questions remaining: 3 of 4)

Calibani stops and thinks for a moment. "Um... I don't know. I don't go on land very often. I'm too vulnerable out of the water - I have to drag around this huge tail, and all of my blubber feels a lot heavier, so I end up moving so slowly. It's terrifying, really. Most of the creatures I've met were swimming in the sea, like me. But I have seen a few go onto land - turtles, crocodiles, and humans like you, for example. I don't know if that makes them land creatures, though."

It's not the most helpful answer, but it does illuminate some things. You hadn't considered that Calibani's, uh, voluptuousness would serve a purpose beyond luring people to their deaths, but sea animals do often need blubber for insulation and buoyancy. You briefly wonder why you knew that marine biology fact, which in turn inspires your next question. "Well, what sea creatures have you encountered, then?" (Monster questions remaining: 2 of 4)

"Oh, lots!" Calibani says with a smile. "There's all sorts of creatures out here in the Sea of Monsters, you know! Lots of fish, obviously, but I imagine you care more about the big-enough-to-eat-you things."

She takes another moment to think. "Hmm... tell you what, I've been kind of building a category system for them in my mind. Most of my fellow monsters can be sorted in two ways: first, by what kind of thing they are, and second, by how they hunt."

"There are four main kinds. The first are serpents - scaly, sinuous things like snakes, crocodiles, eels, and dragons. Second come fish, with their round bodies and flippers, i.e. sharks, whales, dolphins, seals and the like. Then there's tangle-limbs, critters with lots of arms like krakens, luscas, and squids. Finally there are armorskins, who are covered in skin as tough as rocks - crabs, lobsters, turtles, et cetera."

"But it's more pressing to think of how they hunt," Calibani says with the conviction of a creature that is neither the top nor bottom of her food chain. "You have trappers, who hide or disguise themselves and passively wait for food to come to them. Then you have lurers, like me, who actively attract prey by tempting them to be reckless. Hunters take it farther, pursuing their prey without subterfuge and taking it by brute force.

"Most monsters are those three types, but there are some that are even more dangerous - the big guys. There are island beasts, who spend most of their time sleeping and are so big that people mistake them for islands, only to realize too late that they're on a giant monster. And there are ship eaters, who look for large prey exclusively. Whenever you humans have a really big boat, a ship eater inevitably comes to tear it apart, which often gives creatures like me some free meals.

"But the most dangerous of all are the True Leviathans. They're unfathomably vast and live deep in the depths of the sea, but when they come up? EVERYONE has to run. They're stronger and nastier than any other sea monster, and when they go on the prowl, no one's safe."

She smiles at you, completely oblivious to how fucking terrifying that whole spiel was. "See, I'm a serpent lurer," she says. "It's not the most thorough system of classification, but it works pretty well, don't you think?"

You gulp, still processing the nightmares her description has conjured in your mind. "Are there any nice creatures?" you ask. "Social ones, like me, who just hang out together and talk and stuff?" (Monster questions remaining: 1 of 4)

"Well, we're all social to some degree," Calibani says. "I've had some great conversations with my fellow monsters when we were both well-fed. Most creatures are only antisocial when they're hungry, you know." Her eyes flit to the ocean as she tries to find a better answer to your question. "A lot of us go it solo, though, rather than staying in groups like you humans. Well, except..." She wrinkles her nose in disgust. "Except mermaids."

"Mermaids?"

"Yeah, fucking mermaids," Calibani sneers. "Stuck-up, haughty, vain, self-obsessed mermaids!" She grits her sharp, hooked fangs in anger. "Think they're better than everyone else because they're 'classically beautiful!' Fucking mermaids, Sailor, don't even get me started!"

You take her advice. "What about others of your kind? You're not the only one, surely?" (Monster questions remaining: 0 of 4)

Calibani's smile falters. "I don't know," she admits. "There might be others. There - there must be, right? Just because I've never seen or met any doesn't mean there aren't others like me out there. I can't - it'd be very sad if I was the only... oh..." She trails off, her eyes wide as she thinks about her own loneliness for a moment. "I don't like thinking about this question very much."

For her sake, you decide to change the topic. "So, you don't know who Shakespeare is-"

"Shakespeare's a person?"

"-but you do know who Jesus is," you ask, ignoring Calibani's interjection. "How's that work?" (Knowledge questions remaining: 3 of 4)

"Oh, that's easy," she says with a smile. "I learned about him from the pogos."

"...the pogos?" For a moment you think she's talking about the 50's novelty toy.

"Yeah, the pogos! They're a type of lake dragon. One pogo told me about a great land beast called the Jesus Christ. He's a terrible and powerful beast whose head is crowned with thorns, that roars like a lion and a lamb, whose tongue is a sword that he uses to slice the heads off his prey, and whose hands are constantly bleeding from the wounds inflicted upon him by his foes, the Romans. He buries his enemies in a pit of fire, which is grave disrespect given how fire is the opposite of water.

"Yet even though he is a land beast, he blesses his chosen with a sacrament of water, and if they prove their worth, he lets them suckle upon his divine blood, which turns to wine in their mouths. He is a vicious and violent monster, but he is also compassionate, and can make an endless amount of fish to feed the hungry. The pogos tell me that you can invoke his name in times of strife, be it out of fear or frustration, and he will work some of his inexhaustible power to help you navigate the situation as well as is possible. I don't know if I believe in such a creature, but there's no harm in borrowing someone else's lucky charms, right?"

You blink for a moment, considering the incredibly twisted version of Christianity this sea monster just relayed to you. "Well, it's less fucked up than what the Fundies believe," you mutter to yourself before going to the next question. "What about cheese and rice? You mentioned those too. How do you know about human foods when you've never eaten them before?" (Knowledge questions remaining: 2 of 4)

Calibani's smile becomes a bit nervous as she averts her eyes from yours. "Well, I listen in on human ships a lot," she says quietly. "Whenever I find one, anyway. Sometimes I have to wait a while before I can find a human waiting alone on a ship, so I end up overhearing a lot of conversations. I don't know what cheese and rice are beyond being some sort of food." She looks at the cooking stork thigh and licks her lips with her forked tongue. "Bet they taste good, though, especially when cooked."

"You'd win that bet." You smile, then feel your stomach grumble at the thought of some non-seafood. Living off of fish alone has been hard, and while the stork meat is a nice change of pace, you'd kill for some carbs to eat. "So is that how you learned how to speak? By listening to sailors?" (Knowledge questions remaining: 1 of 4)

"Oh no, not at all!" Calibani laughs. "I've always been able to speak!"

You shake your head. "No, someone must have taught you, right? Language is learned, after all."

"Hmm, no, I don't think so," Calibani replies. "I certainly don't remember anyone teaching me to speak. Why, do you remember someone doing that for you?"

That question hits you hard, because, well, you don't. You know that humans have to be taught language, from their parents and, like, school and stuff, but as you try to remember your own experiences with it you realize you have no recollection of who taught you to speak and how. It makes you wonder if you and Calibani have more in common than you thought. "Do you remember your childhood, Calibani?" (Knowledge questions remaining: 0 of 4)

"Of course! I hatched out of a little egg, and started swimming around looking for something to eat. Of course, I was a lot smaller then, and a lot of things thought I looked like something to eat, so I had to learn to be quick on my fins pretty fast. I kept my wits about me, ate what I could when I could, and got big and strong enough to stake out a territory of my own away from the bigger fish, and all in all it's been pretty nice!" She looks at her tail, much smaller than it used to be, and sighs. "It's going to be a while before I'm back to that size, though. Guess I've got my work cut out for me!"

Despite everything, you find yourself feeling a bit guilty about that. You shouldn't, of course - you were just trying to survive yourself, and it's not like you meant to run her over with your boat or drop her down the stairs, and none of that would have happened if she had left you alone in the first place. But if you have a right to survive, doesn't she?

Lost in thought, it takes a moment for you to notice you've allowed an awkward silence to fall on the conversation. Calibani is looking at her tail with a forlorn expression, clearly lost in her own anxieties too. A part of you insists that you try to lift her spirits, and, perhaps unfortunately, it does so by suggesting you flirt with her.

"So... were you singing when I found you?" you ask, remembering the melody you faintly heard when you saw her distant silhouette in the stormy sea the night before. "Because if so, you have a beautiful voice." (Flirts remaining: 3 of 4)

That makes her perk up immediately. "Oh, thank you! I flatter myself to think so, too. I love singing, it's my favorite hobby! And it's so good at luring... um... that is... humans like it a lot, too." She blushes blue in embarrassment at the faux pas of mentioning the people-eating thing that's clearly a point of contention with you.

Another awkward silence, and another angle for flirting comes to your mind. "It was really impressive how you killed that stork. You're really strong!" (Flirts remaining: 2 of 4)

"Oh, pshaw!" Calibani scoffs. "You could have done the same, surely!"

"No, really, I couldn't," you say.

Calibani peers at you intensely with a concerned expression on her face. "I would have said the same before today," she replies. "You never know until you try. You're the one who taught me how to use that harpoon, you know, I bet you're even better with it than I am. And if you're not, well, maybe you're just out of practice?" She gives you a small smile. "I bet you're stronger than you think."

You blush beneath the high collar of your raincoat. "I'm glad you like that sweater I gave you. I was worried the wool might be scratchy." (Flirts remaining: 1 of 4)

A wide smile spreads across Calibani's face as she rubs the sleeve on her cheek again. "Are you kidding? This thing is so soft and fuzzy, I love it! I've never felt anything like it on my scales and skin before, it's so nice!" She rubs her hand over the fleece and gives the sweater a warm look. "I've never really needed to wear clothing before, but now that I've tried it, I have to say I love it. It does get kind of heavy when it's wet, though."

"Yeah, we'll need to wash and dry it," you say. "I can find you something else to wear while we do that, though. I think there were a few other sweaters below deck."

"I'd love that!" Calibani says. "But I think this one might be my favorite. It's my first, after all."

Something in your heart warms at that. You made a pretty girl happy! Yeah, she's also a man-eating monster, but still, props for that! "I'm glad I met you, Calibani," you say earnestly. "It's been pretty lonely out here on the sea, and I know we had a rocky start, but it's nice to have made a friend." (Flirts remaining: 0 of 4)

Her serpentine eyes go wide as a deep blue blush fills her cheeks. "Friends?" she squeaks out while sinking into her vast mane of hair a bit, all while her smile slowly grows. "I'm glad we're friends, too." Her smile becomes absolutely euphoric even as she withdraws further, and eventually she shakes her head and blurts out, "We're talking about me too much! What about you, Sailor? Tell me about you!"

That's hard question to answer when you have amnesia, so you consult your compass.

[deadzonedenizen]

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"Gee partner, you really gotta get better at not getting knocked out easily!"

'Gibby?!'

Bell immediately turned to the gibbon cross sitting beside him, except this time she was a golden phantom herself. He was about to open his mouth, but Gibby shoved her finger against it before a word escaped.

"Shhh, You don't wanna get that guy's attention, right?"

The boy turned to where she was pointing, spotting Red Son as he was working on something with a screwdriver. The thing he was working on specifically? Bell's best guess was the bull king-sized suit of armor he saw earlier.

The bull prince mumbled his grievances while he modified the suit, seemingly yet to notice the fact that his captive was awake. As for said captive? Well...Bell looked down to see himself tied up on the ground. Hey, at least he wasn't dead.

"You know you can still talk to me with your mind, right?" Gibby piped in. "Tho you gotta do it intentionally. So yeah, don't worry about me hearing your intrusive little thoughts."

'Yeah, good to know- You owe me an explanation, missy!' Bell shot back, waiting for this very moment to finally get some actual context.

Gibby giggled nervously. "You caught me...Okie-dokey, lean back and make yourself comfy, because I'm about to tell you a story!"

"Once upon a time, there was a typhoon that caused the ship you were in to sink. But the thing is...that typhoon wasn't caused by natural stuff..."

The boy raised a brow. 'What do you mean by that?'

Gibby winced. "There might've been some demon stuff involved. Bodhisattva Guanyin knew that, so she gave everyone in the ship a second chance!"

Now, Bell furrowed both brows. '...Everyone?'

Gibby nodded rapidly. "M-hmm! You're not the first person in that ship to wash up here in China. Now that I think about it..."

"You're the last."

'The...'

'Last...?'

Bell's heart sank. What could've happened to everyone else that would've made him the last one left? Was it the demons he was warned about? Was it something else?

"Yeah, I thought it was weird too." Gibby added. "First to sink and last to wash up? But don't worry, I'm not a good swimmer either."

'What...' Bell slowly turned back to her. 'Happened to them?'

Feeling sorry, Gibby's gaze trailed downward before finding the right words to use. "You...know those ghosts you saw earlier?"

Then it hit him. The man and his manta rays, the child and their school of tetra fish. him and...jellyfish. There was a reason they were all sea creatures. There was a reason why only Bell could hear and feel them.

"Don't worry, that's not actually them!" Gibby assured to you quickly. "They probably got reincarnated by now. But..."

'But what?'

"...The emotions from their last living moments are...being used to power all this sorts of stuff. There's these stone pieces that demons use to harvest emotions to power whatever they want. And ya know, since you guys have whatever Guanyin shoved in you to keep you alive, you guys are...pretty huge targets."

"And..." She added. "Since...you're the one person from that ship who isn't dead, you're the only one left who can pacify those shards. That's why I'm here! We can't exactly afford more mistakes, right?"

'Me?!' Bell sat in shock. 'Gibby, there were like three thousand passengers onboard! And that's not counting the crew!'

"We don't have to do it all at once!" Gibby promised. "We can do it one at a time! Look, what about this? Tell me what you want, and I could probably give it to you when we're done!"

'...'

The boy stopped to think. He knew what he wanted, there's no indecisiveness there. The sole reason why he wanted to go to China in the first place.

'You said people can reincarnate here, right?'

"...Yeah?"

'Can you...see who their previous incarnations were?'

Gibby's eyes widened, only for her to hang her head somberly.

"...Not yet."

'...'

'Good enough.'

-Chapter 3: Precious Stones

[wren-writes-things]

Let's see... 1, 9, 12, 13 for the fandom ask games? :)

Oh hey Pixel! Thanks for asking.

OTP? 

Probably Sasharcy (of course in the context of Sashannarcy). I absolutely adore all variants of the Calamity Trio but I just tend to drift towards them. My guess is that the personality contrast, and possibly just how much they both need to grow and forgive each other. I don't know it just intrigues me.

I also really like platonic Zelink from the BotW/TotK iteration.

9. Write a recommendation of someone else's fic you enjoyed!

Hmm... Pixel go read your own fanfic! Joking, probably

And I Know I Kissed You Before (But I Didn't Do It Right) - BearerOfTheBitterMoon (liminal-lesbian on here) - Okay I could put all of Mara's fanfics on here. Her writing style and story concepts are just amazing. But we'd be here all day, so we're not going to do that. This one specifically though, was just such an emotional rollercoaster (without leaving with permanent emotional trauma, ex: The Three Body Problem). It's very sweet, it's very sad and it all just feels so real. If that makes any sense

A Witch In Wartwood - Disect - I haven't finished the sequel fanfic yet, but I love this story. It had a very creative take on a Swap AU, and it did a really good job at capturing the essence of the original show while also completely being it's own thing.

Pinpoint - i'm-at-my-limit - Okay, I need to get caught up on this one, because I love the concept and I find it's characterization really interesting but I'm also behind by like two chapters because I wasn't reading as much for a while.

Across The Seven Seas - Heart_Wit_Strength - Did I successfully trick you into thinking I wasn't going to say this? Did it work? Seriously though this is one of those fanfics that I read, immediately reread and proceeded to think about for the next three days. I actually have fan art of it that I need to complete some day. I don't know what you did, but you succeeded at it.

Then there's this one fanfic about Sasha that I really like, but I cannot find it or remember what it is called.

(I have quite a few others that I really liked, these are just the four that were in my brain apparently)

12. What's the funniest or craziest AU idea you've ever come up with?

So the same week that I created Daren, I also created what I call that Devil in the Details AU. Which is one of those AUs where it could be angsty, but I decided it was way funnier to write absurd shenanigans.

Basically Marcy, a lonely and aimless college student, opens a music box (gifted to her by her academic mentor, Andrias) and ends up with Darcy as the devil on her shoulder. Then Anne and Sasha are sent by heaven to prevent her from becoming corrupted and taken over by them.  

Of course, it’s a massive train wreck. 

Darcy is trying to convince Marcy that she should trust them. But because Sasha and Anne are almost always there they can only accomplish this through underhanded life coaching. (Though when Sasha and Anne aren’t there it’s manipulation is more direct).

Sasha is a nearly fallen angel who has taken to giving beneficial but selfish advice and also physically attacking any devils that she ends up paired with. 

Anne is just trying to get Sasha back on the right path and to find a way to get rid of Darcy so Marcy can go back to a normal life.

Then Marcy who was incredibly lonely finally has a social life and people that she can get engaged in her interests. So she’s convinced this is a great thing and is scheming to make it permanent. 

And from this queue all of the comedic shenanigans that could possibly come out of it. But also Anne and Sasha helping guide Marcy into making a life for herself that she really wants rather than what everyone kept telling her she wanted. While Darcy of course tries to counteract that because they assume she searching for a very specific type of success and do not understand any other idea.

13. What's a character or ship you haven't written/drawn yet but would like to some day?

So ironically the answer here is also Sasharcy. I’m not sure how this happened but we have two Sashanne centric AUs (TOH and BotW) and two Marcanne centric ones (Witch Marcy and also BotW). But none of them have focused on Sasha and Marcy specifically (aside from post breakup in the Witch Marcy AU). It's a really interesting occurrence

[somethingclevermahogony]

Writing Share Tag and Last Line(s) Tag

Thank you for the tags @paeliae-occasionally (x2) and @the-golden-comet! That's three so the first two will be random chapter from the old manuscript and the third will be the latest line I've written from the rewrite.

Excerpt 1: Chapter 40

Context: Grown-Up Ninma and Old Dati chat while Narul sleeps.

Narul’s snores soon joined the chorus of birds flitting around the treetops, Dati and Ninma struck up a fire and sat on either side, watching the moths flock to its flickering light. “I know you don't want to hear this from me. But it could be much worse.” Dati sighed. “What do you mean?” “Narul. I know how you feel, trust me we all see how skittish he is. He can be an ass, but he is an ass who everyone can see cares very deeply for you.” Ninma looked into the coals and frowned. “ I know he does but sometimes I feel like it's just too much. It's as if he thinks I’m an idiot, or made of glass.” Dati snorted. “That’s because you used to be a little idiot.” Ninma frowned. “Hey! I was not.” “Oh yes you were, and its a very recent change. Stowing away on the ship, running around like a wild animal in a demon’s lair, not to mention how many broken toes and fingers from falling out of trees have we had to deal with? Hold up fingers, I want to see if they’re crooked.” Ninma rolled her eyes. “Oh please, those were all when I was a kid.” “Sneaking off in the middle of the night to see some pretty lights with your boyfriend while everyone else was drunk? All while you were the most wanted person in Kishetal? I can’t think of anything more idiotic than that.” Ninma laughed and watched an ember float off into the twilight sky. “Maybe you’re right. But I’m not that way anymore.” “I am.” Dati grunted, “Right, that is.” The old sailor had become gruffer and more irritable in his old age, his shoulders hunched, his body stiff, including his tail which no longer swished and flicked with its former fluidity. Ninma thought about Narul, Jani, and the future. “Why did you never have children, Dati? With Sihunu or someone?” Dati raised an eyebrow, taken aback by the sudden change in conversation. "I did. Lat may have come from Istek’s nethers but he was a son to both of us. Sihunu did most of the raising of course, us being at sea and all, but when we were on land we both cared for him. Istek and I share everything, a ship, a wife, and a bed, why not a son too?"

Excerpt 2: Chapter 13

Context: Narul and Ninma meet a strange spirit.

As they entered the clearing the two spirit children melted into the moss and vanished. As Narul crouched to inspect the patch of green into which they had disappeared, Ninma carefully climbed off of his back. The moss was soft and springy beneath her feet. Under the soft surface, she could feel roots and stone, and other things swallowed by the forest. “Where are we?” She said as she stumbled towards the magnificent tree.  “I don’t know, Ninma. Don’t wander off.” Narul muttered. He pulled a small sheet of metal from the moss, a plaque of some sort, cracked and rusted. The same mysterious language which graced the pillars was engraved there on the pitted surface. Narul thought of stories, of ancient kings and heroes, and of an age of metal and glass. “Welcome, it has been many years since I was blessed with a visitor.” Narul jumped and clenched his fist, crumbling the metal plaque into a ball of rusted scrap. Ninma ran back to him and clutched his leg, her eyes darted around the clearing. “Do not be afraid. I mean you no harm.”  The soft melodic voice seemed to emanate from the tree itself. As they turned to it, the knotted trunk undulated and quaked, and thus split open to reveal a hollow. Ninma watched as a column of golden pollen and leaves vaguely swirling in the form of a person, stepped from the tree. Narul could only stare at that strange being which emerged. They were tall and thin, with skin like the bark of the oak from which they had emerged. Its head was perfectly round, with no indication of a chin, nose, or brow. Their lipless mouth was flush with their wooden skin. Where one would expect to find hair, instead sprung long branch-like protuberances which twitched and curled, seemingly of their own accord. And the eyes. Seven of them arranged like a crown around the being’s head, each a different shade, they blinked and swiveled, Narul could hear them, like rolling marbles. “Please sit. I mean you no harm.” The being said softly, as it itself sat, long spindly legs crossed. “What are you?” Ninma said, her voice little more than a squeak. “I am a spirit, I have been called one of the Jalbaba, the great spirits. If you ask for my name, that which I was first given, I cannot remember it. But there are those who have known me as the One Who Watches or simply the Watcher. I was young when men and his kin rose from the common animals and the cycle of mortal souls began, and I was already ancient when the gods laid waste to the impious and made the world as it is. Who are you?” Ninma looked at Narul and then back at the spirit. She took a deep breath and puffed out her chest, and tried to rekindle that royal bravado. “ I am Ba Ninma Asherdul Ninjali, daughter of King Hutbari of Labisa” Ninma rarely gave her full noble name, it wasn’t of much use in non-noble circles. But she was hoping to impress the spirit with her royal pedigree. It meant Princess Ninma of the line of Asher, third of that name of the Eldest line.

Last Line

The princess slipped between the trunks of the olive trees of with the silence and grace of a cat. On bare feet she leapt over the wicker baskets and padded over the pit laden ground. Silvery leaves festooned her bushy hair and dirt blackened her fingers and toes, and yet her crimson tunic and mantle remained miraculously spotless. The slaves, busy at their task of harvesting, paid the young girl no mind, save to clear her way. Her eldest brother was deep in conversation with the Apunian stranger, or perhaps conversation was not the correct term. For while Bazus spoke enthusiastically, his hands a blur with wild gesticulations, the Apunian said nothing, merely nodding his head. Then his eyes met hers. Ninma froze, she was meant to be with her tutor, learning about some useless old king or poet. If she had to hear about Tudilya this or Hiru that again she was going to eat her wax writing board. The stranger had no reason to report her tardiness to either her brother or her father, but then again you could never quite tell with adults. Akarat’s brow raised over so slightly, but he did not question her following them, nor did he point out her presence to her elder brother. He turned his attention back to Bazus and the rapidly approaching gates. Taking his indifference as permission, Ninma followed as they passed beneath the stony gaze of the gate guardians.

Tagging @aalinaaaaaa, @illarian-rambling, @sabewebb, @winterandwords, @noveldivergence

[forest-falcon]

Content warning for angst

Crash Landing

(another extract because I haven't figured out the order yet! 😅 This time with Gordon and Alan's perspective as they wait for Two/Virg.)

"So!" Gordon chirped brightly, breaking the silence.

"I picked up this voice modulator. Has over five hundred voices to choose from! Was saving it for a rainy day but given Two's gonna be off the rota for a while, I thought we could install it?" The aquanaut nudged his brother's shoulder.

"Sure." Alan shrugged halfheartedly.

"Come on bro! Picture it...it's Virgil's first flight back, he does his preflight checks, fires boosters, then old Johnny boy crackles over comms, only it's a Darlek! Sending you co-or-din-ates!" Gordon materialized a plunger from nowhere and advanced towards his brother.

Alan forced a smile in response then turned to recheck the medical supplies he'd been readying for the umpteenth time.

"Come on Sprout. He'll be okay. You know that right?"

"Mmmm." Alan nodded noncommittally.

"Hey, and bonus - once the jets have finished dousing Two n' Virg is out safe - granted a few bumps and bruises; we'll have our own fire retardant foam party!"

Alan chuckled despite himself but his face remained doubtful.

"Talk to me bro."

"I- I don't know what to say." Alan fumbled; his brain suddenly spinning into overdrive.

"I want Virg to ditch Two in the sea, but I know he won't do that. I want Scott and Kayo to do... something to help Virgil but they can't abandon the mission...And why the hell do bad people keep trying to hurt the good? They don't come much kinder than Virg. Now our brother and his lifesaving ship are going to get smashed to pieces, and for what? I mean, even if Virg pulls this off, he's gonna get his ass handed to him and he started his day by trying to help people." Alan's expression contorted into a bitterness which had no place on a face so young. It made Gordon's heart flip.

The aquanaut inhaled deeply, ready to unpick the tangled ball of emotions he himself wasn't entirely sure how to process when Alan looked up; the anger replaced with pure and unfiltered dejection.

"And I just feel so selfish."

Gordon's brain tripped over itself.

"Wha- Why do you feel selfish? You've not done anything wrong."

Alan blinked rapidly at the horizon.

"I know, it's just that I know you feel all this worry too... so it's selfish for me to not cope, not when everyone else in the family feels the same. I don't want to be the weak one." he added, clenching his fists.

Gordon met his brother's glistening eyes with warmth from his own.

"You're not selfish or weak. You care, and that's a good thing."

"Yeah, but Grandma, Scott, John...well, all of you - you all care and yet you're all so together and practical. You just...handle it. Me? I feel like I've spent my entire life trying to live up to something I'm not." He scuffed his boot on the ground.

"I mean, I knew the gig going into it. I'm not afraid of getting hurt. And I can maintain a healthy distance from it all emotionally when it's other people...well, I can most of the time. I just thought, when I put that uniform on, when I learnt to pilot Three, when I saved my first person…that it'd somehow make me capable... of saving the rest of you."

Gordon pulled his younger brother in almost fiercely and held him with all the love and devotion his fractured heart could afford.

"We're not gonna leave you Allie."

"You can't promise that." Alan whimpered from the crook of his brother's armpit.

"Maybe not." Gordon straightened.

"But if it's too much...Al, you know that you come first. You must say if you don't want this." his aquanaut brother gestured back towards the hangars, his face more serious than he had ever seen it before.

"Me leaving International Rescue won't solve the issue." he shrugged weakly.

"I mean all of it, Allie. If International Rescue is too much, we don't have to do it. We can just be a regular family." The words were said with such sincerity that Alan could do little more than shake his head whilst regaining his ability to speak.

"It wouldn't be us. Besides, Scott would rejoin the air force, you'd be back with WASP. I'd see less of you all than I do now...which I suppose isn't such a bad thing." He said regaining his humour.

"Hey!" Gordon objected.

Alan broke free from the hug.

"Besides, I'm proud to be a part of what we do. I know it's what's right and I do love it, even though it's hard."

Gordon squeezed his brother's arm.

"I'm proud of you Al. You're pretty awesome y'know?"

"Yeah, I know." He said dragging his face over Gordon's sleeve.

"Eurgh! I take it all back, you suck!" Gordon protested, shoving back the now sniggering younger brother.

Alan gave a gentle punch to his brother's shoulder.

"Thanks Gordie."

[thlayli-ra]

🍓🌵🥑🍄🪐 for the ask game 🩵

Why hello lovely, how are you? ❤️

🍓- How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I've written fanfiction since my teens, but considering that was back in the dark days before ff.net and AO3, I just wrote them for myself in notebooks and on my computer. It was only when I wrote Scorched Earth back in 2018 that I thought 'I wonder if anybody else would enjoy this' and took the plunge of posting it on AO3. The fanfic bug bit soon after, and it only got worse once I got onto Tumblr.

🌵- Share the link to a playlist you love?

I only have one playlist. It's my own personal one called 'inspiration' and it's full of songs that that inspire ideas or that represent a certain fic/au. I'm not going to link it but here are five random songs from it if anybody really wants to know.

🥑- you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

I'd probably just get Erase and Dani over - they won't hold it against me, I'm sure. We'd just stare at the body then discuss what happened on the latest episode of Raw and the finer details of CodyPunk. Nothing would actually get done about the body but I'd feel a lot less stressed about it...

🍄- share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings?

Well of course, it's a Punkintyre one. I reckon that Drew is very vanilla kink-wise and Punk is trying to broaden his horizons with their feud - a 'hey, you wanna date the freak, you have to get a little freaky' kinda thing. So Punk suggested the threesome with Seth Rollins - hard pass from Drew! Drew suggests whipping (he's done it before) - they're making some good progress. Bit of role-play, bit of blood-play and now we'll see what they try out at Bad Blood. I'm keeping everything crossed for some bondage; since Punk's return to wrestling there has been a distinct lack of handcuffs and I am not pleased by this!

🪐- name three good things going on in your life right now?

Awww, this is a cute one! I'm happy with how my family life is at the moment, I'm being more pro-active and trying to keep organised and it's really helped my mental health as I don't have as much mental load as before and I've landed a main role in the local Panto this year. I'm playing the sea witch in the 'Little Mermaid' and I get to sing and dance and really heel it up. There's so many similarities between pro-wrestling and pantomime that they must share a common origin somewhere, I could write an essay on it!

[itsfrenchfornothankyou]

Hey @spoonergodofspoons has gotten far enough in one piece for me to start recommending fanfics so I thought it would be easiest to post them here! Consider this my one piece fanfics rec list for people who recently got halfway through dressrossa

Part 1: early asl reunions

Look I am a sucker for these fics, and aren't we all a little in denial about marineford?

A present that's a mystery (giving you your history) by midnightluck you might see that name a couple of times here, I love their fics so much idk if they have a tumblr

Anyway this is about 5.5k of sabo getting his memories back early (because koala found embarrassing baby photos of him for his birthday) and reunion fluff, one chapter for Ace, one chapter for Luffy

Wish by spirit and if yes by midnightluck LOOK I TOLD YOU THEYRE REALLY GOOD AND I LIKE THIS ONE EVEN MORE THAN THE LAST!! it's an au where the RA send someone to keep in touch with the whiteboards every now and again, and now it's sabo's job! This fic has my favourite reunion of all time and I won't say anymore because if there's one fic on this list you should read it's this one - 32k

Twin flames by soccersarah01 , again, no idea if they have a tumblr

Ace calls sabo his twin while in impel down and this has .. consequences. Reunion! Gol D Sabo! Fucking with the government! What more could you ask for in a fic! 66.666k

Speak up boys! By @plantwithoutplot , a solid contender for just being one of my favourite fics ever, it's currently sitting at about 69k (nice) and chapter 9/31 and look I know it's incomplete but it's SO GOOD

it's a time travel au, where the asl bros end up on Gol D Roger's ship. Ace is trying to commit patricide, Sabo is trying to be the reasonable one and Luffy is... Luffy. Everybody is having a rough time of it and auuugggg the angst of being reunited but knowing you have changed so much and what if you don't know them anymore and what if you are no longer the person they loved and AHHHH go read it!! Read it now!!!

Chasing the remnants by @29rynoah sabo goes with dragon to loguetown! This one moves a little slower than the others in terms of how long it takes for the characters to actually be reunited, but the writing is really good!! The payoff when they finally get to see each other again? The character work? Incredible, 40k and I know I said it moves slower but when I was reading it I swear it only felt like 10k

Being together we are stronger than ever by starryyah

Body swap! ASL can have a little body swap, as a treat! I'm sure nothing will go wrong! 13k

Part 2: Lawlu!

Okay, I know I'm a big proponent of platonic lawlu and I cannot see Luffy in any kind of romantic relationship I really can't- however some people are writing really good lawlu and I am a little bit closing my eyes and saying yes it is queerplatonic. To me.

I Love Luffy by missdreamgirl32 you know what I just want to steal one of their tags to sell this to you: Law tries to play three-dimensional chess against two guys playing go fish and loses

The character dynamics in this are so fucking good, I'm also actually just going to steal the summary right from the work because I get way to lost trying to explain everything else which is cool about this fic if I try to synopsise it:

After hearing Luffy off-handedly mention he has a boyfriend, and worried there might be some misunderstanding, Ace and Sabo decide to track the guy down and invite him out to dinner

Anyway it's really fucking good check it out it's only 10k I have read it... Many times (could be read as romantic, I do not)

The mysterious Torao by spooky_vallimo

This one is romantic but it's so fucking funny, spare 3k words worth of time to read this drabble, au where Luffy and Trafalgar met as kids, if you enjoy it there are some more works in the series

Come to sea with me, where we can be free by siojo

This is the only au that's set in a completely different world on this list, I guess I love Luffy is a different world but it's not fantasy different, its more a modern au

Anyway siren AU!

this one is again, a lil different to the others on the list, which are largely character studies

This one is on the list because I'm a little obsessed with the story aside from one piece characters? It's just really well written and has interesting lore and world building

It's also kind of a sad/bittersweet fic, and some of the characters do eat humans (because siren) so yeah, this one has a different vibe to the other fics on this list but it occupies a certain space in my brain, only 8k

Part 3: Miscellaneous!

This is ASL stuff that isn't necessarily early reunion, or is only about one or two of them

The world doesn't deserve you by dezace

Okay so what if I told you there is an au where asl brothers are pirates together as children? And that it was 47k and had other works in the same universe?

Great, you're on board? Now, this is the only fic on this list to have made me cry

It is HEAVY ANGST and Spooner I know I'm making this list for you but it will HURT YOU and you may not want to read it, the ASL bros may be alive but they were the only survivors after a buster call was made on goa, and everyone else on the island died, and everyone believes the trio to be dead for a very long time

But if you do decide to read this fic which will hurt you, the emotional catharsis at the end is REALLY GOOD!! and there are many more short stories in the universe!!

But if this all seems a bit too ouch, the this author has a different, more light hearted series: Luffy was raised as a marine and makes it everyone's problem, which is a fun good time where Luffy knows marine codes and uses them to save ace, among other things

Man I wanna go reread the world doesn't deserve you again

On brotherhood by @ladycrimsonandblack

This is a lovely little fic where Luffy is the elder brother, just over 4k

There's this very specific fic niche where Luffy is older and he meets up with Ace while Ace is unwillingly being recruited onto the whiteboards and I just love it, this is the second one I've read and now I'm going to see if I can track down the other

Update this is it

Anyway yeah this is a very specific genre of fic, but it turns out I'm very fond of it

Whatever you can still betray by midnightluck

Have something short fun and fluffy! In this fic Haruta of the whitebeards thinks Ace is a marine spy, but that's fine they're going to keep him anyway! 6.5k, one of my faves

[chesthighwater]

sidenote i just finished return of the obra dinn and am feeling a little insane. random bits from my playthrough (AND SPOILERS) under the cut.

no seriously you all know i'm very pro-spoilers that is my ideology but this is one of the rare pieces of media where even i say "yeah no you have to go in blind". so. if you think you might want to play it, go do that now.

OKAY ANYWAY

maba was one of the very first people i identified (after the captain-abigail-hoscut tutorial trio) via his tattoos [so i also avoided the whole "where's my frenchman" misdirection that got a lot of people] and so i developed a sort of camaraderie towards him for no reason. like, i'd walk into some absolute carnage, no idea who anyone is, trying to find my footing, and then i'd see him and be like "HEY THERE'S MABA! THERE'S MY GUY!". a friendly face in a sea of strangers. thank you maba my early game anchor.

brennan took me way longer than he should have- i had him pinned as someone else via accent due to a misattributed voiceline- but like everyone else i too felt very smart when i noticed his shot in the execution scene. good call on the game's part for not tackling the uh Philosophical Implications of firing squads.

THE MIDSHIPMEN. GOD. thomas is my favourite, obviously. regarding peter's death, i initially just assumed he missed/misjudged the powder throw due to being in an adrenaline fight or flight "OH GOD OH GOD GET IT OFF ME" situation. like, he was hoping to aim it lower, or elsewhere in hopes of injuring the kraken and getting it to let go, and just missed. if you've ever been in a near death Must React Fast situation you know it's not exactly rational thinking and precise flawless action you just do the thing. but then i read a theory that he lit the powder before he was grabbed, and then he forgot about it (on account of actively being grabbed), and by the time thomas noticed the lit powder it was too late. i quite like that interpretation. anyway, why is no one making them gay? must i do everything myself?

oh also! thank fuck for the glossary because i am Not an age of sail person. i think i have like... below average knowledge of ships. i stepped onto the deck like "hmm what the fuck is a bostun". why did anyone hire me for this investigation. i'd have to spend significantly more time googling if i didn't have the option to flip through the book every time i realise i don't know what a purser is. i'd really love to play this game with someone who actually knows their shit, it would be fascinating hearing how someone well-versed in the subject interprets the little details.

of course i also went through the initial "how the fuck am i supposed to figure any of this out" hitch, but once i got the right gameflow down it was a BREEZE. so incredibly fun. what i did was essentially decide on someone i want to figure out, bookmark all their memories, and just go through them in order observing that person, who they're with and what they're doing... those mini personal investigations were the most fun part for me.

immediate post-game heartache, by the way. as soon as i finished i thought "man, i wish this game was procedurally generated so i could replay it" IMMEDIATELY followed by "no, with the amount of attention to detail? impossible. this is a piece of art. handcrafted. an Experience. man i wish i could go back in time so i can replay it"

i had time to flip through some of the localisations as well and they were shockingly good (with only very minor inaccuracies that i noticed), and i know for a fact that that was no easy task. even beyond that, any gripes i have with this game are EXTREMELY minor. nitpicky. i'm not even gonna say them they're that insignificant. it's just an excellent game.

also i never noticed the mermaids have Three Pairs Of Boobs until i read the wiki

anyway. people i accidentally guessed correctly: peters brothers, two of the four chinese topmen (actually figured out the shoes trick for the other two!), george shirley. people i identified wrongly for way too long: brennan, martin, olus wiater, nicholas botterel (?sp). most fun had: when reconstructing an individual person's journey through all the memories they appear in. figuring out where they went and when and how and why they got there.

in conclusion talk to me about this game if you also played it okay i love you bye

[citrus-cactus]

CITRUS, YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO TALK ABOUT YOUR POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOWS

DR. CRINGEFAIL: 2 4 14 21

SAD SCOTTISH MAN: 2 7 20 22

Enjoy!

BLESSINGS BE UPON YE, YOU KIND, HANDSOME, OBSERVANT STRANGER, YOU. MY CROPS ARE WATERED, MY FIELDS ARE THRIVING!!

Ask game here.

Under! The! Cut! Cuz! I’m! Embarrassed!

The one, the only, Noodle-In Chief:

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

It's not 100% clear to me, but it was definitely around the September timeframe of the novel (the first time I read it, in ‘22). I don't think it was OFFICIALLY too late for me until he met the Harkers at the end of September and Mina was like "Hey Jack. JACK. You keep your diary on all these wax cylinders, and they're not even LABELED?!" And Jack was like "...Um. Yeah, actually... that never even occurred to me." gOD, you IDIOT <3 (I may be paraphrasing). But it was this and several of his earlier blunders paired with his dogged determination to remain genre-blind and skeptical of everything that he was witnessing that ultimately endeared him to me. There Is Most Definitely Something Wrong With Him (derogatory) (affectionate).

He’s truly a problematic fave, but he’s my favorite character in the novel nonetheless!

4. How many people I ship them with

Um, the entire vampire-hunting polycule? THIS MAN DESERVES ALL THE KISSES where canonically he has none, and he deserved to be one of Lucy’s three husbands, fr fr :(

14. Best storyline they had

The incredibly tragic story, told in his own words, of how John “Jack” Seward, MD had to watch the woman he loved waste away and die of a mysterious ailment, interspersed with personal asides regarding how full of vigorous manhood all of his friends are, and how his former professor is so incredibly hot good at everything and spry for his age, but who also may be (in Jack's professional opinion) a touch crazy. Peak sopping wet noodle time, it’s amazing <3

21. When do you think they were at their happiest?

September 30: "I got home at five o'clock, and found that Godalming and Morris had not only arrived, but had already studied the transcript of the various diaries and letters which Harker and his wonderful wife had made and arranged. Harker had not yet returned from his visit to the carriers' men, of whom Dr. Hennessey had written to me. Mrs. Harker gave us a cup of tea, and I can honestly say that, for the first time since I have lived in it, this old house seemed like home."

BUDDY!!!! T^T

"JUST SOME GUY(tm)”:

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

I mean, I’ve always liked him quite a bit (that voice, that tragic backstory, that Shakespearean flavor). But for whatever reason I didn't become obsessed until my rewatch last summer. CanNOT stop thinking about this man, the former king who has really just been a pawn his entire life; what he thinks, what he feels, how he's been going through the motions while searching for the one who betrayed him, yearning for a death that will not come for as long as he has. HE’S JUST SO SAD, YOU GUYS!!!!!

7. A quote of them that you remember

Every word that comes out of John Rhys-Davies’ mouth is SO GOOD, but the quote that sticks out the most is (of course) "KNOW her? I NAMED her." GODDDDDDD it's infinity good and I never get tired of hearing it, not even once (and since they use it in every relevant "Previously On," you hear it A LOT). It's ok though, because they 5000% knew what they were doing with that one.

Some other choice one-liners:

"I'm just… so... tired" is also top-tier delivery, and does a really great job of summarizing his entire existence since 1057.

"And I know how to read them" is such a sassy retort (and a GREAT callback to “Lighthouse in the Sea of Time”).

“For that matter… WHY ARE WE WORKING TOGETHER?” is sooooo *chef’s kiss.* Enjoy being a walking, talking meat puppet with your worstie for several more months, my guy!

20. A weird headcanon

Ummmmm soooooo I designed a gargoyle form for Mac as my headcanon for what he would've looked like in "The Mirror" (of course I did). My Watsonian explanation for why we didn't get to see him that night is he was way too busy getting drunk off his ass and crying over his long-dead wife (yet again) :C

22. When do you think they were at their lowest?

990-some-odd years is a looooong time to find your lowest point. Even though moments like Gruoch’s marriage to Gillecomgain, his first “death”, the ending of “City of Stone,” and the middle of “Sanctuary” were pretty low moments for him, I’m quite sure his lowest point was never actually seen on the show (centuries-long depression isn’t exactly Disney Afternoon-friendly). The day(s) he found out about Luach and Gruoch’s deaths were obviously waaaaay up there. I imagine he had a really rough time of it during the Black Plague, so I’ll say his lowest point was somewhere in there :C :C :C

I do hope he was able to enjoy the Renaissance a little, tho. I’ll bet he commissioned a lot of art.

If you’ve read this far, THANK YOU FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY RAMBLING ABOUT THESE SAD, SAD FICTIONAL MEN!

[ethersierra]

hey can you describe the plot of the last two arcs of ethersea s1 to the best of your ability? I haven’t finished it and I want to listen to it in my head during the ap calc exam tomorrow

Well peter you are in a heap of luck because my answer comes to you like two or three months late! Hurray!!!!

Oh um and if you're my friend Siena, don't read this post!! Spoilers ahead!!!!

Okay. So. The menagerie. Following the shit that happened in cambrias call the crew have saved the city and yada yada they're heroes . They go back to the bluespan brokerage like hey we want a new mission and Ravi is like oh yeah I have this one or the biomass swarm which has been available since day one with Ballaster Kodira but keep running away from it I guess. And Justin is like I'll take the first option. Anyways they go to the conservatory where the curator is and he's like hey uh some of my animals got stolen

And they talk to the horse, well Zoox does I guess, and Devo follows one of the security sprites cause he doesn't fuckin trust it. And he does such a good performance check that he turns into a white cube or something. And they manage to not track it exactly but realized it's the same type as was in the abyssal auction. And they want to get in touch with this guy

So they are like ok the best way to do this is to talk to someone who we Know would know him. And they take a wine bottle to Aloysius supremes house and try to bribe him into telling them? Honestly no idea how that worked out for them. But it did.

And then they take their ship to where he told them to and dock and pretend to be fucking window inspectors or some bullshit of equal holding. And they infiltrate and they are like damn this is fancy and amber and Devo chill in the study but Zoox is like I need to soak :( and then amber like pulls some stunt maybe it's another bathroom break scenario and Devo dresses like a waitstaff to blend in. He goes to the docks and talks to tolliver maybe who he learns runs the place? Which is called crescendo. And amber finds the place the auroch is stored and goes into it and she has to fight some dude cause they're trying to hunt the animals. And she saved the auroch but then it started talking and oh what it has griffins face ok that's weird . And they get it on the ship or some bullshit and then Zoox bombs the place and kills everyone inside and damages the Coriolis a little bit but it's mostly fine. Idfk what their deal is.gonna be real I remember menagerie the least. There was an undersea encounter somewhere there and I think it may have been blinksharks telling Zoox about the four arm woman person who hang in the sky and boil sea? And he's like yeah ok. Also it may have been the ghost ship? Or a mermaid?

Then they get back to founders wake and another ship is like uh permission to board and KODIRA!!! shows up and she's like... Devo I'm im so sorry. The hand of guidance is dead

‼️‼️‼️💥💥💥

So they go to the Parrish and investigate and Kodira's like look this is kind of illegal but I'm gonna let you all do whatever you have to to investigate. And they're like she didn't kill herself someone made her do this and then they go to the schoolhouse and talk to seldom and idk what came of that cause I forgot.

They decide it's probably orlene and he's been weird so they are gonna go after him and they're like hey let's bring Kodira also urchin has a friend now but it's not important. Along the way they come across some minefield or something and aaa blinkshark maybe? The important part is the statue that is at the bottom of the ocean. Amber swims down to it and when she touches it she has a vision where she is like on land and Koda is about to step on her but he is smiling. And then her astral arms are way more powerful and the statue glows green.

Kodira blinks them back and is like wtf happened and amber is like check it pretty swag huh? And Kodira's like. I gotta process

And then after a day they reach this big dome made of bleached coral. And they have to fight the last of the blinksharks which they end up killing. And they go into the dome and fight a coral dragon. But amber hears fighting downstairs from Kodira so she's like!!!! I gotta help! An she sees that there's just been.. a.. slaughter. Kodira is standing in the middle of just a field of slain bleached coral bodies. And a red eye on her forehead is glowing. Koda starts talking to amber about how magic destroyed world's yada yada join him to stop it from destroying the next or shit idfk he sees ambers green arms and is like you have such a power you don't know you possess. And then fights her for it

Kodira has six red astral arms out and amber manages to grapple her into a bear hug from behind and hold them down. And Koda is like wow she... Really.. . Doesn't want me to fight you. And they fight more and she eventually is like fine I'll join you if everyone gets to leave safe. And Kodira's mouth is bleeding and she gets some blood on one of the empty portal attempts and uh it activates.

Upstairs, Zoox and Devo defeat the coral dragon and face orlene. They learn that he wants to go back in time and be with his family. He has a bunch of portals formed from the coral which is what he was using drynarr to do . They talk, fight, etc. Zoox is separated from his body and becomes the coral tower, after a chat w finneas in his mind palace . Orlene dies. Devo looks into the portal of the past, and says the words he knows so well,

"when kingdoms fall the sea provides a home for all beneath the tides... and bring your families"

And then he returns downstairs where koda-kodira and amber have been fighting. And amber is like hey Devo come look at this and she's like, I just wanted you to see it once (I'm not cryi--). And then goes back to fighting Koda and she's like actually if you want magic gone you're gonna have to come get it and dashes for the portal and leaps into it shouting kela sai guppies momma's home! And Kodira jumps in after her and holds herself up with these red arms and grabs onto amber but then amber turns on the vapour suit, snapping at Kodira's arm, and they both fall into the new world and the portal shuts behind them.

Devo and Zoox go home. He wants to see seldom but goes to the schoolhouse to find only beck, saying seldom took his ship and went away. Devo becomes the new head of the Parrish and he turns it into a school. Zoox is made th defender of the city and has a giant mech body. He builds a coral statue of amber. They go out in their freetime to try and find Amber.

But uh funny thing is, Devo has a headache. It started back on their way home. And then he sees a visage of a man in front of him, the one he knows as tolliver. And tolliver is like yeah man u made two different timelines when u did that shit. And Devo is like oh yeah well I'm your brother Damien cern and tollivers like oh yeah well I'm kind of a personification of magic at the moment so.. and then we see timeline b in the world that got devos version of the call. He is at the Parrish still and guidance is alive. He is happy, maybe, and teaches kids about benevolence. But without his help on their first mission, amber and Zoox died.

Back in uh timeline a as we are now calling it. The main ethersea timeline. Devo is going through his stuff and finds a book from orlene with a handwritten note that says "great oraters seldom whisper." And everyone is like OHHH SHIT SELDOMS A SPY

And we go up. Up up up to a city in the sky. And we are inside a cell. Where we see Seldom. And a man approaches him. It's benevolence.

And Devo vows that he is going to kill god.

Meanwhile in the other world amber and Kodira are giant and theres blinksharks in the water and they're like fuck what's up and then Koda is dead as hell and they're basically gods and they goof and fall in love and then sun sets the end

Anyways hope your calc exam went well the results are probably in by now xoxo (for dramatic effect) DBSKFJKSKFJDKD

[jedi-hawkins]

The Planet Core

3.9k Words

Pairings: Jedi oc x Obi Wan

Warnings: Brief descriptions of injuries

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An invasion of Naboo is underway by a droid army.

Jedi Padawan Bryn del Caro, along with Padawan Obi-wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight Qui-gon Jinn must journey to warn Queen Amidala of the danger posed to her and her people.

With friends new and old, her skills will start to be tested in ways like never before.

The bongo motors hum as the submarine cuts through the darkening water. Obi-wan rests his hand on the controls while Bryn sits in the co-pilot's seat.

"Since when have you been able to push the mind, Bryn?" Obi-wan asks.

Bryn laughs, "I don't know if you noticed, Obi-wan, but it didn't work."

"No, not yet." Qui-gon says, leaning forward from his seat. "But, you're shockingly close. Master Plo is pushing you faster than I expected. Very impressive."

Bryn glances at the reflection of her first master in the windshield of the submarine and smiles. "Thank you, Master. Master Plo has been preparing me for the trials. Personally, I think it might be too soon for me to take them, but I trust his judgement." She turns to look at the dashboard. "Obi-wan, is there any way to make the lights brighter? I can barely see."

Obi-wan shakes his head. "They're as bright as they can go, and you needn't worry about the trials. You'll do amazing."

"Oh, yesa. Da planet core is very darky." Jar Jar says from his seat beside Qui-gon. "Oh! Gooberfish!"

"Why were you banished, Jar Jar?" Bryn asks, glancing over her shoulder.

The gungan cringes at the thought. "Tis a longo tale-o, buta small part of it would be mesa... clumsy."

"You were banished because you were clumsy?" Obi-wan asks, his brow furrowed.

Jar Jar nods, sadly. "Yousa might'n be sayin dat. Mesa caused mabbe one, two-y little bitty axadentes. You'd say boom de gasser, den crashin der boss' hey blibber, den banished."

"Don't worry, Jar Jar." Bryn says reassuringly. "You'll find your place soon enough." She fiddles with the dash once more. "You're sure the lights won't go any brighter, Obi? I don't like the dark."

"There is more than one way to find light in the dark, Padawan." Qui-gon cuts in. "Reach out with the Force, it can guide us much better than our eyes."

Bryn nods and settles into her seat, closing her eyes. She lets the hum of the motor fade away until only her breathing tethers her to the submarine. For a few moments she's silent. She can feel the life radiating from the other three passengers in the sub, from the fish and seaweed outside, even the energy from the twisting current pressing towards her. Just as the submarine passes a dark rocky outcrop, Bryn feels a large looming shape start to follow the bongo. Her eyes fly open.

"Obi, step on it."

"Why?" He asks, "There's nothing-"

The submarine jolts as an enormous fish snags it with its tongue. The motors of the bongo begin to whine with strain as the fish reels the ship into its mouth.

"Big gooberfish!" Jar Jar exclaims. "Huge-o teeth!"

Bryn and Obi-wan's hands fly across the controls, trying to regain control of the ship.

Obi-wan points to a button on Bryn's side of the dash. "You have to flip the-"

"I know!"

"Maybe try the-"

"I am!"

"If you don't then-"

"Kenobi, you're lucky I'm trying to get us out of here instead of just feeding you to that thing, because if you don't shut up, that's what I'm doing next."

Before Obi-wan can reply, a bigger set of jaws appear out of the gloom and snap around the opee sea killer hanging on to the bongo. While the boys stare in awe at their rescuer devouring it's dinner, Bryn takes the controls and pilots the submarine down through the rocks and into a more protected cave.

"There's always a bigger fish." Qui-gon mutters.

Obi-wan takes the controls again and instantly an alarm goes off from the dashboard. "What did you do?" he asks.

"How should I know, you were the one who took the controls back." Bryn retorts. "It looks like we're losing power. Set us down somewhere."

Jar Jar begins to whimper as the bongo settles to the bottom of the tunnel. "Wesa dyin' here."

"Don't worry Jar Jar," Bryn says, unbuckling her seat restraints. "This will only take a few seconds."

She stands up and moves across the cabin where she pries a panel off the wall and begins fiddling with the wires.

"Do you mind telling me what you're doing?" Obi-wan inquires from the pilot's seat.

"I'm hopefully going to reinstate power through the converter so the compressor can-"

"In real words, please." Obi-wan says, cutting Bryn off.

She shakes her head, smirking. "It would take about double the time we have to explain it to you in a way you can understand. Open that panel on the dash and find the white wire, please."

Obi-wan follows her direction as Jar Jar starts to break down more.

"Stay calm, Jar Jar. We're not in trouble yet." Qui-gon says, trying to soothe the sobbing gungan.

"What yet?" He exclaims. "Monsters out dare. Leak'n in here. All sink'n and no power? Whena yousa tinkin wesa in trouble?"

"Got the wire, Bryn."

"Good." She responds, closing up the wall panel. "Now touch it to that relay." She says, pointing to it as she sits back down.

As Obi-wan does, the lights on the ship flicker back up to reveal a huge row of teeth right in front of them.

Jar Jar screams at the sight of it. "Oh no! Monstair's back! Wesa gona die!"

"Punch it Obi-wan!" Bryn shouts.

The ship speeds away from the clawfish with Jar Jar screeching and flailing in his seat.

"Relax." Qui-gon tells him with a hand on his shoulder. The gungan instantly slumps over.

"I think you overdid it, Master." Obi-wan says, glancing at the gungan. "So Bryn, you fix ships too?"

She shrugs, smiling. "My ships have a tendency of getting damaged. Besides, I needed a hobby."

The mouth of the tunnel approaches, but it suddenly becomes blocked by yet another large pair of jaws.

"Oh this isn't good." Obi-wan groans.

The cavern rumbles behind the small bongo. It's passengers look towards the source of the noise to see the claw fish bumping through the tunnel towards them.

"It's about to get worse." Qui-gon plainly states, eliciting more whining from Jar Jar

Bryn huffs. "Give me the controls, Obi-wan. Buckle up everyone." She guns the throttle towards the large jaws waiting for them and holds out her right hand. The gaping maw suddenly lurches backwards, giving Bryn enough room to pull the bongo sharply upwards as soon as it exits the cave. She weaves the bongo up and over the giant fish's back as close as possible, which draws the claw fish right into the waiting rows of teeth.

The bongo levels out and Bryn glances over at her passengers. Jar Jar has passed out again and Qui-gon is calmly sitting next to him. Obi-wan to her left is clenching the dash, his knuckles white.

"Oh come on, it that wasn't that bad." Bryn taunts him.

He slowly looses his grip, rolling the tension from his shoulders. "At least that was better than your flying."

Bryn gives him a cheeky smile. "Well I got us out alive while you sat there, so you're lucky I was here aren't you."

Obi-wan rolls his eyes. "Lucky isn't the word I would use."

"What would you use then?"

His face softens as he looks at her, but Qui-gon interrupts. "Be mindful, young padawans. We're here."

The bongo breaks the surface near the docks of the royal palace. Just as the group  is disembarking, a droid transport flies overhead.

"Looks like the droids have beat us here."

"Yes Master." Bryn replies. "It's likely the Viceroy is already here too and has the Queen in his hospitality. Here, this is the best path to a good vantage point." She gestures towards a staircase to their right, spiraling upwards.

"You act like you've been here before." Obi-wan remarks as they ascend the stairs. "Have you ever met the Queen?"

Bryn nods. "I have, last year, before Queen Amidala began her term. Master Plo and I were here to help tighten the palace's security."

"Oh? What do you think of her?" Obi-wan asks as they creep along a breezeway.

"She's a bit young, but I think she's capable of becoming a very kind and wise leader, who will do whatever is best for her people." Bryn's hand shoots out to keep Jar Jar from bumping into her as Qui-gon abruptly stops in front of them. "Look, there she is." She points over Obi-wan's shoulder at a small cluster of people being escorted by droids through the courtyard.

"Her fashion is a bit, erm, interesting." He says, eyeing the Queen's elaborate feathered gown and headdress.

"I'm sure she'll let you borrow it if you ask nicely." Bryn teases him.

"Shh." Qui-gon cuts them off and gestures for the two padawans to follow him.

The three Jedi crouch at the ready on a bridge spanning the exit of the courtyard. Just before the troupe passes under them, Qui-gon leaps down to block their path. Obi-wan follows his master's lead, and Bryn lands last, quickly unsheathing two light sabers, one blue and one green.

The triad easily slice their way through the droid guards. At one point Bryn force pushes two droids away from her and into Obi-wan's ready attack. His heart flutters as he watches Bryn swiftly take out the last droid.

"Quickly," Qui-gon says, "We should leave the streets your highness."

The queen simply gives a curt nod and follows Qui-gon's lead.

"Get their weapons." The Guard Captain instructs his officers as Jar Jar finally drops from the bridge above.

"Whoa! Yousa guys bombad!" He remarks in awe.

Bryn smiles at him. "Thank you, Jar Jar. Now come on." She gestures for him to follow the rest of the group as she brings up the rear.

As he glances around for droids, Obi wan manages to steal a look at Bryn. "Was that a second lightsaber I saw?"

She smiles. "You noticed. It's pretty new, just a few years old."

"And green." Obi-wan remarks.

"And green." Bryn repeats. "the story of how the crystal spoke to me is quite a good one. Perhaps another time." She nods toward the front of the group where Qui-gon is motioning everyone into a small corridor.

Now that they're under better cover, Qui-gon turns to speak to the Governor. "We are ambassadors for the supreme chancellor."

The governor raises an eyebrow. "Your negotiations seem to have failed, Ambassador." He says with an annoyed tone.

Qui-gon shakes his head. "They never took place. It is urgent that we make contact with the Republic."

"They've knocked out all of our communications." The Guard Captain interjects.

"Do you have transports?" Obi-wan joins in.

The Captain nods gestures down a corridor to their left. "In the main hangar, this way."

When they reach the hangar doors, the Captain begins muttering as he fiddles with the control panel. "These should be opening. They must have locked us out."

"Allow me," Bryn says, stepping forward. She slips an ornate dagger out of her robes and uses it to pry open the control panel. Within a few moments, the locking mechanisms on the doors release with a deep click. "That's the best I can do without alerting whoever or whatever is on the other side of that door."

"That's more than enough." The Captain says. He and one of his officers carefully pry the doors apart, just enough to peer through. At the sight of a troupe of droids guarding the hangar crew, the Captain shakes his head. "There are too many of them."

Both Bryn and Obi-wan shrug their shoulders. "Won't be a problem." They reply in unison.

Qui-gon turns to the queen. "Your Highness, under the circumstances, I highly suggest you come to Coruscant with us."

She shakes her head. "Thank you, Ambassador, but my place is with my people."

"They will kill you if you stay." Qui-gon insists.

"They wouldn't dare." The governor interjects indignantly.

"They need her to sign a treaty to make this invasion legal." The Guard Captain clarifies. "They wouldn't dare kill her."

Qui-gon once again addresses the queen. "There is something else behind all this, Your Highness. There's no logic in the federation's move here. My feelings tell me they will destroy you."

"Our only hope is that the senate will side with us." The governor adds. "Senator Palpatine will need your help."

The queen mulls over her options before replying. "Either choice presents great danger." She glances over her left shoulder to her first handmaiden. "To us all."

The young girl replies to her. "We are brave, Your Highness."

Bryn steps forward, her eyes still resting on the first handmaiden before moving to the queen. "If you are to leave, Your Highness, it must be now."

The queen seems to stand a little taller. "Then I will plead our case to the senate. Be careful, Governor." She follows Qui-gon's lead out the door.

As the the queen's handmaidens file through the door, Bryn once again moves to cover the rear, but Obi-wan gestures for her to go before him.

She pauses and looks at him. "What."

"Let me cover you, go. " He simply replies.

Bryn shakes her head. "No you go, I've had the rear this whole time."

"And now I've got it, go."

She rolls her eyes. "Why does it matter? We have the same training, Obi-wan."

Obi-wan's voice becomes more stern. "Bryn, please. Just- please."

She sighs and rests a hand on his shoulder. "Okay." And with that, she strides through the door.

Bryn lengthens her steps so she is beside the queen's first hand maiden. "Don't worry Padme." She mutters from the corner of her mouth. "We'll get the Queen out of here safely."

"We'll need to free those pilots." The Guard Captain points over to the captives.

"Let me take care of that." Obi-wan says, creeping behind some crates, waiting at the ready.

Qui-gon confidently strides up to the droids guarding a chrome Naboo cruiser. "Halt." One of them says.

"I am an ambassador to the Supreme Chancellor. I am taking these people to Coruscant." Qui-gon plainly states.

"Where are you taking them?" The droid asks.

"To Coruscant." Qui-gon repeats.

"Uh, wait that doesn't compute." The droid mumbles. "Uh, wait. You're under arrest."

Qui-gon quickly ignites his lightsaber and rushes the droids in front of him. Obi-wan darts out from his hiding spot and quickly frees the hostage pilots. "Go!" he shouts to them.

They divide into two groups, half rush back towards the hangar doors while the others run towards the Naboo cruiser, where Bryn is defending the loading ramp from blaster fire.

Padme is the last of the handmaidens to board. Just as Bryn ricochets a blaster bullet off of her blade, a wave of instinct takes over her and she dives to her right towards Padme. Bryn's side instantly burns white-hot and she yells out in pain as she crouches over the young girl. There was a droid hiding behind a ship's landing gear she hadn't seen.

"Bryn! are you alright?" Padme exclaims at the Jedi's outcry.

"Never you mind, m'lady. Barely grazed me. Go." Bryn practically shoves the girl onto the ship and she's followed by the rest of the Royal Guard.

Blaster fire flies over Bryn's head once again from the rogue droid. Pain still radiating through her body, she drags her eyes over to the droid and reaches out her hand. The droid lifts a few inches off of the ground and is suddenly ripped in two.

Obi-wan finishes off the last two droids in the landing bay and turns towards the cruiser to see Bryn stooping down to pick up her lightsaber. The two quickly board the ship and the rockets fire, speeding cruiser out of the hangar.

"Nothing like a midday workout, eh?" Obi-wan says, bumping his elbow into Bryn's shoulder.

Her breath hitches in pain, but she manages to pass it off. "Workout? I was just warming up. Let's find Qui-gon."

Obi-wan nods in agreement, but something about Bryn's voice sounded off. The two stride by the cruiser's droid bay, where Jar Jar is standing just inside the door.

"Now stay here, and keep out of trouble." Obi-wan prompts him.

"Master is probably on the bridge." Bryn speaks up, and again Obi-wan notices that her voice sounds strained.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

She takes a deep breath and gives him a smile, her left hand still pressed against her side under her robes. "Yep, never better. Just anxious to get back to Coruscant."

"There's the blockade!" One of the pilots speaks up as the pair reaches the bridge.

"Right, forgot about that part." Bryn murmurs under her breath.

The blockade begins to fire on the small cruiser, red bolts are flying everywhere. The cruiser jolts as something on the starboard side is hit and alarms begin to blare.

"Shield generator's down!" One of the co-pilots call.

A clanking can be heard on the hull outside as some astromec droids start rolling across the hull to repair the damage.

Obi-wan and Bryn watch a screen off to the right, showing the little droids under fire. One is lost, then two.

"We're losing droids fast." Obi-wan alerts the pilot.

The Guard Captain shakes his head. "If we don't get those shield generators back up, we'll be sitting ducks."

The cruiser shudders as the shields go completely down. Only one astromec is left on the hull, but it is still furiously working away.

"Come on, you can do it." She urges the droid. Hearing her, Obi-wan reaches over to grasp her hand in comfort.

Suddenly, the red on one of the dash screens changes back to green. "The power's back!" The pilot looks at it in surprise. "That little droid did it! He bypassed the main power drive."

The co-pilot flips a switch on the dash. "Deflector shields up at maximum." He confirms.

With the shields back up, the Naboo cruiser is easily able to slip past the rest of the blockade and out into open space.

The co-pilot shakes his head. "There's not enough power to get us to Coruscant. The hyper drive is leaking."

"We'll have to land somewhere to repair and refuel." Qui-gon remarks, deep in thought.

Obi-wan sits down at the navigation terminal and scrolls through it quickly. "There, Master." He says, pointing to the screen. "Tatooine. It's small, out of the way, poor. And the Trade Federation has no presence there."

"How can you be sure?" The Guard Captain remarks suspiciously.

"It's controlled by the Hutts." Qui-gon replies, looking over Obi-wan's shoulder.

The Guard Captain turns around in his seat. "You can't take her Royal Highness there. The Hutts are Gangsters. If they discovered her-"

"Then it'd be no different than if we landed on a system under the Federation's control." Bryn says from the door, cutting him off. She takes a breath to steady her voice before continuing. "Our advantage is that the Hutts aren't looking for her."

The Captain nods, still with a look of distaste on his face. "To Tatooine then." He says to the pilot.

Suddenly, a wave of nausea washes over Bryn. The room starts to spin and her vision quickly goes dark as she collapses to the floor.

"Bryn!" Obi-wan exclaims, kneeling down at her side. "Bryn? Can you hear me?" He gently shakes her shoulder, but she remains unconscious.

"Let's get her to the medical bay." Qui-gon says, kneeling over her.

Obi-wan nods and scoops Bryn up in his arms, walking swiftly after his master. As he gently sets her down on the examination table, the medical droid hums over. In the bright lights of the med bay it's alarmingly obvious that Bryn's face is devoid of all color and the right side of her tan colored robes have become stained with blood.

"When was she hit?" Obi-wan asks, frantically.

"It must have happened on the landing platform." Qui-gon replies. "With all the chaos of our escape no one must've realized. The lights on the bridge are too dark for anyone to have noticed."

"She took the shot for me." A small voice says from the doorway.

The two male Jedi turn and see the first handmaiden meekly gazing upon the scene.

"I should've said something, but she made it seem as though it wasn't that serious." The girl explains. "I'm sorry there was nothing I could do. Is she going to be okay?"

Qui-gon motions for her to join him and Obi-wan at Bryn's bedside.

"Padawan Caro will be fine. The blaster missed all of her vital organs." The medical droid explains as he hooks up an IV bag. "She has simply lost a significant amount of blood. She just needs a plasma drip and rest. She will be awake within the hour."

Obi-wan lets out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Noticing, Qui-gon places a hand on his shoulder and turns to speak to the med droid. "Thank you-" He pauses for a name.

"Ah, AZ-7, sir." The droid replies as he starts ushering them towards the door. "Now if you please, I need to bandage her wound."

The two Jedi and the handmaiden step out into the hallway, and a slightly awkward silence falls over them.

"So, m'lady, how is your Queen settling in?" Qui-gon says, trying to break the tension.

The young girl smiles. "Quite well, actually. She's much more resilient than most people think."

"I'm sure she is. Underestimation is often the downfall of one's adversaries." Qui-gon replies. "Now, please excuse me, I need to talk to the Guard Captain and find some new robes for Padawan Caro."

"Have you known her long?" The handmaiden asks Obi-wan.

He smiles at the thought. "Yes, not only is she my closest friend, but she's my oldest one."

The girl places a hand on his arm sympathetically. "She'll be alright. The medical droid said so."

"I wish she'd said something." Obi-wan shakes his head. "But that's one of Bryn. Duty and the safety of others comes first with her. Always has."

"That's what makes her an amazing Jedi." The handmaiden says.

Obi-wan sighs, "I suppose you're right. In my opinion, it's an increasingly annoying habit of hers. Especially since she's saved my neck more than once and she doesn't let me forget it."

The girl laughs at Obi-wan's remark. "I'm sure you repay her the favor."

Obi-wan smiles. "I try to."

Before the handmaiden can say anything else, the doors to the medical bay slide open to reveal the medical droid.

"I have finished dressing her wounds." AZ-7 says. "She has also woken up, you may come in and see her if you like."

The two rush in past the droid and over to Bryn's bed where she's propped up on a mountain of pillows.

"Bryn, how are you feeling?" Obi-wan asks hastily.

She rubs her temple gently. "Like I got run over by a speeder."

"Here, drink this." the first handmaiden says, handing Bryn a cup of water.

"Thank you," Bryn replies, accepting the drink. "Have you two met? Obi-wan, this is Padme. She and I met when I was on Naboo last year. Padme, Obi-wan. He and I were collected by the Jedi at the same time, we basically grew up together."

Padme smiles. "Bryn was a good friend to me back then, and even more so now. I could've been in her place, or worse."

Bryn touches her hand reassuringly. "All in a day's work. What's our status Obi-wan?"

"Leaking hyper-drive. We're landing on Tatooine to refuel and repair." Obi-wan replies. Before he can continue, his comm-link beeps.

"Obi-wan," Qui-gon's voice says from the little device. "The Queen requests Padme's presence, please bring her up to the her Majesty's quarters."

"Yes Master, right away." Obi-wan turns to the door, but hears a rustling behind him. Looking back to the medical bed, he sees Bryn gingerly standing up. "Oh no you don't." He says, rushing over to try to get her back in the bed.

She pushes his hands away. "Obi-wan, I'm fine. I want to hear what the queen has to say."

Obi-wan lets out a sigh, "Fine, but only because I can't waste the time arguing with you."

"Smart choice, you know I always win." She says with a smile. Bryn moves to take a step, but her knee buckles under her weight. Obi-wan swiftly stoops to catch her and lifts her arm around his shoulders.

"There's no way I can convince you to stay in bed?" He asks, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"You'd have to strap me down." She replies.

He snickers at her and shakes his head before walking to the door where Padme waits.

Please let me know if you want to be tagged in future works!

[tiny-minecraft-rabbit]

fanfic prompt: rancher duo at a new year’s eve party? you can choose if it’s romantic or not. good luck with your resolution!!!

Thank you! I immediately got sick but you're also the only one to send a prompt so here you go. Sorry if it's cringe lol

CW: alcoholic drinks, romantic shipping

Summary: Jimmy is the only sober person at the New Years Eve Party and it's not too fun without his Rancher.

Jimmy pulled at the end of his tie, frowning at the crowd of people. Everyone Grian knew and their soulmate was here, and despite the avian living in what could be loosely called a castle, it was packed wall to wall and louder than an enderman farm.

He could just see Tango across the room, gesturing widely with a drink in his hand that was half empty now and not because his soulmate had sipped any of it. His smile was the only reason Jimmy had tolerated the last hour of this party.

The first hour (hour and a half if he was being generous) was actually fun, but being PG meant you didn't drink and apparently none of the others cared about their content ratings.. not that it actually mattered here, during a party with no cameras or watchers or viewers or whatever turned on then, but saying he was keeping his PG rating was apparently reason enough to make people laugh and stop offering him drinks. So, long story short, he was sober in a sea of tipsy and drunk players and the near incomprehensible conversations had gotten tiring after a while.

He just had to wait till the clock struck 12 and they'd be out of here. Just another few minutes and the fireworks will go off.

He should make his way to Tango, the two of them should be together when the clock strikes. However that meant getting through the crowd, and that felt like a monumentous task at the moment.

The front door was to his left. He didn't want to just leave but standing at the edge of the crowd in the warm, liquor smelling home wasn't any more appealing. Hearing some fight break out was the last straw however. It was a drunken shouting match between what looked to be Cleo and Martyn with Scott holding her shoulder tightly, a feeble attempt to keep Martyn from getting his nose broken.

Jimmy was sure it would dissolve in a minute, and Grian was already making his way over to them to keep his party from becoming a full on brawl; so, with one last ruffle of his wings, he headed out the door.

The air outside was bristly, wind blowing through his hair and feathers and biting at his skin, sending a chill down his spine. With just a few steps from the door the grass was crunching under his feet, dried in the December cold.

Once the sound of music and shouts and laughter had died down he let himself drop to the ground, looking up at the galaxies above him. He didn't bother trying to count the stars, he wasn't so bored to start an impossible task, but he did lift a lazy finger to draw loose shapes between clusters.

He didn't turn his head as a pair of steps started from the door and crunched through the same grass he had; simply resigning himself to having to talk with someone that was probably too intoxicated to remember where they were let alone this conversation in the morning.

That is until two bright red eyes peered down at him, "Hey there Rancher Bud, thought I saw you sneaking out. Not enjoying the party?" His soulmate smiled, amusement in his voice.

He couldn't help but smile back, reaching up to touch his Rancher's face but coming up short. "Not really. Didn't want to spoil your fun though," he answered, "Everyone's drank a bit much for my liking."

"Ah, I see," Tango nodded sagely and sat down by his head. Jimmy dropped his arms back across his chest as Tango placed his hands on Jimmy's cheeks. "Don't think I've ever met a cowboy who didn't like a good whiskey."

Jimmy pouted, "Well this cowboy is fine staying sober, thank you very much."

"Alrighty," Tango replied, rubbing circles with his thumbs and warming Jimmy's cheeks, "I've had.. mmmmm, maybe three drinks? Two and a half? You okay to kiss this cowboy with his whiskey lips when the fireworks go off?"

Jimmy snorted, "Whiskey lips?"

Tango shrugged, "Something like that."

"I don't know," Jimmy hummed, "Sounds like a terrible idea, kissing you."

It was Tango's turn to pout, "But- But you're my soulmate, my rancher buddy, we gotta kiss at midnight, it's, like, law or something."

"Well, if it's law I suppose I got to, don't I?" Jimmy mused.

Tango nodded his head furiously, "Uh-huh, sure is. So we're gonna smooch right? I can- maybe I can see if someone's got a mint?"

"It's alright, you'll get lost if you go back in there." He placed his hands over Tango's, closing his eyes for a second, "I don't mind it that much, just as long as we can talk to each other still and you're not going to start calling me names."

"I'm not gonna call you names, Jim," Tango answered, "You're my Rancher, no one's gonna call you any more names while I'm around."

"You're a sap," Jimmy giggled.

Something squealed in the distance, making both them pause with confusion before a blast went off in the sky. Red sparkling the sky for a few seconds before being joined by blue then yellow then red and blue again, and so on, each coming with a bang and sizzle. The fireworks. It was midnight.

Tango laughed above him before leaning forward, "Happy new year, Rancher Buddy."

"Happy new year, Rancher Bud," Jimmy repeated, propping himself on his elbows.

The kiss was awkward, they hadn't bothered turning their heads and their chins bumped their noses and Jimmy's nose wrinkled at the bitter taste of Tango's mouth. They pulled away, laughing at the ridiculousness of it before Jimmy properly sat up, "Again?"

"One more time," Tango chuckled.

They closed the gap properly, it was a little less awkward, but their noses bumped and Jimmy was still grossed out by the taste. They laughed again as they pulled apart.

"This is dumb," Tango said, placing a hand on Jimmy's leg.

"We're kind of idiots, aren't we?" Jimmy giggled.

"Just a little," Tango agreed.

The third kiss wasn't perfect, but it was definitely close enough for them.

[im-goofball]

Hi hope you're well

If it is not to much of a bother I would love to read more of Garp, Xebec and Roger's brotherhood.

Hello, Anon. I am doing fine and thank you.

Part 2. Sailing together

After the incident with their boat, both Xebec and Garp decided to train more and more, not wanting to repeat what happened to Garp again.

After few years, they finaly set sail at the age of fifteen. And thus the adventures started. They had lot of fun just two of them, fighting the marines and attacking other pirate crews and stealing their treasures.

But... Garp felt something was missing. Something really important that would fill up the gap between him and Xebec. Something deep inside his head told him to go around Logue town and Xebec agreed. He too felt something, whatever it was, it was hiding in the Logue town.

After restocking their resources, they met atleast one year younger boy, who wanted to set sail with them. Garp eagerly accepted but Xebec was wary of that stranger and didn't want to let him join.

After lot of convincing and pleads, Xebec finaly accepted the boy onto their ship, but was still cold around him, not trusting him completely.

The boy's name was Gol D. Roger, another D. and another black hole. Great... Now there are three of them.

After some time adjusting onto their small crew, fighting with the marines and pirates alike, Xebec found out he started to care about Roger, which was strange for him, since the only person he ever showed any kind of affection was Garp. But the more time he spend with that kid, the more he liked him. He was the missing piece, balancing Xebec's brutality and Garp's mercy perfectly.

After going onto another island, all three of them went shopping, since their pipes were heavy demaged. This is where Xebec found his saber. It was perfect for him and he switched it with more heavy and alredy broken pipe very gladly.

Instead of looking for Garp and Roger, they found him, but also brang company in form of marines. Xebec just huffed and all three went running back to their ship, while Xebec scolded both of them for being idiots. Garp and Roger just laughed, saying: „Don't worry! This one was worth the shot!“

After sailing off to the wast sea, Garp pulled for his shirt a bottle with clear liquid and three sakazuki cups. He poured that clear liquid into each and three of them sat on the deck, holding their cups.

„Hey, Xebec! Do you know what happens when people share saké cups?“ Roger asked.

„They become subboardinates, why?“ Xebec replied with narrowed eyes.

„Well, yes...That too, but they also become brothers! So I thought we would make it official!“ Garp beamed with his eyes sparkling.

Xebec didn't know what to think of it. He heard about the subboardinates thing, yes, but the thing about brothers? Well, that was new.

Both Roger and Garp raised their cups waiting for Xebec. He just smiled and they all shared saké, on that fateful day in the East Blue. They drank the liquid and Garp laughed out loud.

„Bwaahahahahaaa! I have brothers! Finaly I am not slone anymore!“

„Of course you're not, we are here with you! Right, Xebec?“ Roger asked, but Xebec wasn't there. „Huh, where is he?“

Xebec was in his room, laying on his bed with huge grin on his face.

„Brothers...Two brothers...Yeah, that does sounds nice.“

Now he had two brothers and he'll make sure nothing bad happened to them. They will be there for him and he will be there for them. Nothing will torn them a part.

But we all know good things must end.

[saunne]

Hello! Happy Sunday! Just dropping by with a writing question. How do you approach writing relationships? What are your favorite dynamics to write (in general or between specific characters)?

Hi Zac ! Thanks for the ask 😊

In a sad and funny way, I love as much as I hate writing about relationships. I have a lot of real life problems with relationships, in the sense that I like people but I'm very bad at handling relationships (all types possible). I sometimes think I don't really understand people at all and yet when I write I get praised for my characterization so honestly I have no damn idea what's going on.

But hey. Relationships.

Generally, to write relationships, in addition to starting from the characters and their personal lore, I have a big "theme", a "nuance" that colors their entire relationship and serves as a common thread for me to weave their interactions. For example, my most recent Honkai Star Rail fanfiction, The Moon Crumbles [But The Sea Does Not Change]. It's a Jing Yuan/Dan Heng ship fanfiction, but the common thread is "Grievance", with the undertones "Regret", "Memory" and "Hope". All of their interactions and thoughts are approached through this prism, how it shaped the people they were, the people they are, and the people they will become.

Then, I suppose you could say that I work in a very logical way, with a logical causal system, an action leads to a reaction and everything can be explained if you take the general context and past experiences into account. If I indicate the emotional state of a character, it will be obligatorily explained in the following lines.

I build relationships like one builds puzzles, by putting pieces of the same color together, sorting them by shade and then seeing what logically fits together.

As for my favorite relationships, I have three : Star-crossed lovers, obsessive loyalists and found families. I like to write romance, even if it's a difficult exercise, but I find my happiness in bathing everything in angst and hurt/comfort, in handmade personal tragedies and endings like "we deserve a sweet epilogue my love, I think we have suffered enough". Found Family is because of my own issues I've had and my own found family, ecclecticly assembled along the way. And obsessive loyalist… Well, I love when something positive like loyalty can quickly turn into something dark, twisted and all-consuming. How it can devour a person from the inside, how one purpose, one cause, one person can light a fire to ignite the soul.

I hope that answered your question and that you had a pleasant Sunday ! 🌞

[aidaronan]

top three fics you've written!!!

By kudos-based popularity, they are all Steddie fics despite the fact that I've been on ao3 since 2014 and wrote for some of the bigger Marvel ships. Still floored by that info and the Steddie effect in general. The top three: 1. The Prettiest Boy in Hawkins, Indiana 2. Anywhere, Anytime 3. It's Not a Big Deal My personal favorites? Super hard to say. Cut and Changed and Rearranged is close to my heart because I got to write so honestly about a journey that's so real to a lot of people who identify as bisexual. Empires Fall, but Not Us is still one near and dear to me. It's a cyberpunk SteveBucky fic and I just really loved the way it turned out re: the pacing and story. Deep Sea Diving means a lot because there was something so healing about letting myself write just the nastiest porn about a fat character and having that character seen as desirable but not as some kind of fetish. (Also a SteveBucky fic.) But man, I have just so many fics published and a lot of them mean something to me. Hey, Jude from back in the the Walking Dead days. Quench and all its unhinged comedy re: Meatstack Steve Rogers. Skip, Reverse and all the banter between Sam and Bucky. Anywhere, Anytime and getting to write (on purpose) about the ADHD experience through Eddie. I don't know that I can actually pick just three, and I know there are some I'm forgetting. lol Thank you for the question! Help yourself to snacks. There's various beverages in the fridge. 💛